Zacks Research Downgrades Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS) to Strong Sell

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Kodiak Gas Services (KGS) to a "strong sell", creating a divergence with most analysts — MarketBeat shows a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.57 after several firms raised targets or maintained buy/outperform ratings.
• Kodiak missed quarterly EPS (reported $0.40 vs. $0.53 expected) though revenue of $332.9M slightly beat estimates and rose 7.6% year-over-year, while the stock trades near its one-year high with a P/E around 69.
• Insider and institutional activity is mixed: a director bought 5,000 shares recently but insiders have net sold over the past 90 days, even as large institutions (Invesco, Vanguard, Zimmer, State Street) significantly increased holdings; institutional ownership is about 24.95%.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on KGS. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Kodiak Gas Services from $45.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Kodiak Gas Services from $36.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kodiak Gas Services from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Kodiak Gas Services from $53.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Kodiak Gas Services in a report on Monday, December 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kodiak Gas Services currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $54.57.

Kodiak Gas Services Stock Up 2.0%

NYSE:KGS opened at $60.32 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.34 and a beta of 0.96. Kodiak Gas Services has a one year low of $29.26 and a one year high of $60.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.84.

Kodiak Gas Services (NYSE:KGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $332.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $330.95 million. Kodiak Gas Services had a return on equity of 11.55% and a net margin of 6.16%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.21 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kodiak Gas Services will post 1.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kodiak Gas Services

In other Kodiak Gas Services news, Director Alexander Newsom Darden bought 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.75 per share, with a total value of $273,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $273,750. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ewan William Hamilton sold 5,797 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $325,675.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 34,346 shares in the company, valued at $1,929,558.28. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 11,433 shares of company stock valued at $624,360 and have sold 58,673 shares valued at $3,269,110. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kodiak Gas Services

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,593,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $283,988,000 after buying an additional 1,287,485 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,170,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,771,000 after buying an additional 1,559,172 shares during the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,271,553 shares of the company's stock valued at $159,756,000 after buying an additional 1,339,849 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,340,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,916,000 after buying an additional 806,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kodiak Gas Services by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,969,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,061,000 after buying an additional 376,524 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.95% of the company's stock.

Kodiak Gas Services Company Profile

Kodiak Gas Services, Inc operates contract compression infrastructure for customers in the oil and gas industry in the United States. It operates in two segments, Compression Operations and Other Services. The Compression Operations segment operates company-owned and customer-owned compression infrastructure to enable the production, gathering, and transportation of natural gas and oil. The Other Services segment provides a range of contract services, including station construction, maintenance and overhaul, and other ancillary time and material-based offerings.

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